How is it August already? It's hard to believe that 2017 is already half over. We're 3 months out from Turkey Day and 4 months out from Christmas and Sagittarius season! 🎉♐
Anyways, I was taking a peak at My Bookish Blog Goals & Resolutions For 2017 post to check my progress. I wasn't expecting to be able to cross much if anything off my list so far given the fact that I've been absent around these parts. However, I'm happy to report that I can cross off my goal to setup an official URL for this blog as well as my goal to master a new video editing software.
Some goals like doing a readathon a month and buddy reading one book a month, I now realize that I should have planned for before hand instead of thinking that I would just wing it. It's been a struggle trying to find a consistent book buddy among my real life family and friends. A lot of them don't read for pleasure or the way their life and schedules are setup doesn't allow them keep up with my reading pace. The search online wasn't any better as I barely found a partner in time for Book Buddyathon.
To rectify my lack of book buddies, I decided to start my own online book club, Zodiac Readers. Feel free to join us! Starting in September, we will buddy read one book each month as a group. I'm thinking about hosting a live show to discuss/review the books we read, but don't hold me to that just yet.
I'm really hoping to collaborate with other bloggers and BookTubers before 2017 is over. I already a few sponsored posts and videos coming up thanks to authors, publishers and brands. I'm making slow progress on my manuscripts and have no clue if I'll be sticking my foal of publishing both of them by December 31st.
All that said, I've decided to break down the rest of my goals into achievable monthly goals. Here's a look at what I want to accomplish in August.
August Goals
Blogging, Vlogging & Social Media
- Post 2x Weekly | Now that I'm back blogging on Southern Sagittarius, I want and need to stay consistent. I think posting a minimum of twice a week here is a good place to start. I don't have to worry about getting overwhelmed. I'll also be incorporating some personal posts so that you guys don't get bored with the book talk.
- Upload 2 Videos Weekly | My YouTube channel is another thing that I need to breathe new life into. It's been forever and day since I've been able to post a new video other. However, now that I've cleared some space in my office and have a clean background to film in front of, I will filming and uploading 2 videos a week to my channel.
- Comment on 10 Blogs Daily | Commenting on other blogs is a great way for me not only get more eyes on Southern Sagittarius, but it also allows me to check other bloggers and hopefully establish a bond. Establishing a bond with similar bloggers will allow me to have a network of bloggers that I can successfully collaborate with in the future.
- Post 2-4x Daily to Facebook & Twitter | You can't grow your social media following if you're not sharing anything or creating conversation. My Twitter account is slowly growing as I've been spending more time over there interacting and posting, but my the Southern Sagittarius Facebook page could certainly use a little bit more love.
- Post 1x Daily to Instagram | Okay so I'm not afraid to admit that bookish photography kind of sucks at the moment. However, the only to improve that as well as continue to grow my Instagram is to post pictures on a consistent basis. The more I play around with laying out book and getting an editing process down the better I will become.
- Invest in Props | While we're on the subject of sucky pictures, I fully realize that I need to invest in some props like cute cups, flowers and other little accessories to help jazz up my pictures. So, I'll be hitting up the dollar stores to see what I find. Y'all, I do miss Target and their Dollar Spot. ðŸ˜
Reading & Writing Goals
- Read 3 Diverse Books | One can't be an advocate for diversity in reading if I'm not putting the effort to read more diverse books, right?
- Update My Goodreads Shelves | I set a Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 150 for the year. However, I haven't been putting books on my Read shelf so that they will actually count/show up on the Goodreads Reading Challenge tracker. I'm hoping I'll be able to remember all the books I've read prior to our move and I'll be keeping a list of books in my bullet journal from here on out to make it easier.
- Write 500 Daily | Part of being a writer means actually making the time to write. Whether I'm actively adding words to my manuscripts or not, my goal is bang out a minimum of 500 words every day this month.
Whelp, that's is for this month. Wish me luck y'all!
Do you set monthly goals? What's one thing you want to accomplish in August? Let me know in the comments!
My first visit to your site and I absolutely love it! Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving your link. :)
ReplyDeleteWell done on the blog URL and the video editing software! That's awesome!
Good luck with your goals of posting and commenting! Those are great goals and I look forward to visiting you more in the future.
I lurk on bookstagram so I'm picking up your link to follow you there too.
Good luck with meeting all of your goals this month - I hope it's a great one for you. My only goals are to catch up on my reading schedule and to feel more on top of my ARC pile. :)
Your site is SO PRETTY!! I'm in love. Anyway, I would definitely be interested in joining Zodiac Reads. Are you going to be reading YA?? I don't read a lot of Adult, so I might not be the best participant if it is a lot of Adult-- but if it's YA, I would love to join.
ReplyDeleteI don't set monthly goals - or any goals, really, except for "read more books" - because I never even attempt to achieve them. Laziness or fear or failure? I don't know. So I really admire people who do meet their goals. I hope you have a wonderful August and good luck with your book group!
ReplyDeleteI love your blog! It's so pretty! I'm also a southern Sagittarius. :) Your book club sounds so fun. I'm not very good at making book commitments outside of review books lol. I would definitely join if I was better about it. I hope you have a great August!
ReplyDeleteThe Ladies Book Club gif really made me laugh. And yes to everything you said about it being hard to find book buddies in your real life! :( I had a friend who I did some buddy-reading with, but we haven't been able to be consistant about it. I would love to have a book buddy again.
ReplyDeleteAnd you are very ambitious with your August goals! That's awesome! The only August goals I really set were the books I would read for this month. Planning the books I read each month helps me get through the ones I'm excited about and the ones I'm NOT super excited about... And I guess my unofficial "goals" are to post daily on Instagram and to post 2-3 times a week on my blog. I think I'm doing good so far!
Oh, and one thing about bookish photography: I have really found as I'm getting more familiar with bookish photography myself that it totally works to use items you actually have around your house as props. Like, I use sweaters, blankets, dresses, and leggings as the fabric in the backdrop. I use cheap grocery store flowers, fruit, shoes, candles I already own, and basically anything else I can think of in that moment that relates to the book. I'm still learning, but I've been really happy with my results. I'm not trying to do any shameless self-promotion, but my Instagram handle is @chocolateandchapters if you want to look and see my pictures so you can see what I'm talking about. :) Good luck!